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Ishetf-^ ^i Receiv ed 

Nioll 

EXPEDITKIN UP THE YELLOWSTONE RIVER, 

MADE IN j s7o. 



JAMES W. FORSYTH, 

LIErTEXANT-COLOXKL AXD MILITARY SKCKETAltV 



F. D. GliANT/ 

I-IRrTKN'AXT (OTOXEr, AXI) AIDE-DK-rAMP, 

INIlKK TIIK riKDKKS OF 

LIEUTENANT-GENERAL P. H. SHERIDAN, 

COMMANDING MILITAnY niVISKiN OF THE MISSOriJI. 



1 WANSFER 

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I JiiL 12 ,944 



WASHINGTAN: 
GOVERNMENT Pltiaj'aNG OFFICE, 
1875. 



AVA.R r)E3?AIlTME:srT. 



REPOllT 



Oh- AN 



EXPEDITION UP THE YELLOWSTONE RIVER, 

j\I A n E IN 1 S 7 5 , 



BY 



JAMES W. FORSYTH, 

LIErTENANT-COLOXEL AND MTLITART SECRETARY, 



AND 



F. D. GRANT, 

LIEUIENANT-COLOXEL AXD AIDE-DE-CAilP, 



U.NDEU THE OBDERS OF 



LIEUTENANT-GENEtlAL P. H. SHERIDAN, 

COMMANDING MILITARY DIVISION OF THEI^HSSOURI. 



/' ' 



WASHINGTON: 

GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE, 

1875. 



LETTER OF INSTRUCTION?. 



Headquarters Military Division of the Missouri,^ 

Chicarp, 111, May 10, l>^'->. 

Colonel: Pursuant to an a;;reement with :^Ir. S. li. Conlson, the 
contractor lor freight on the Upper Missouri, the stojimer Josephine 
will be placed at vour disposal at Bismarck, Dakota Territory, tor an 
examination of the Yellowstone Kiver from its mouth to tbe mouth ot 
the Big Horn, or still farther up, if ])racticable. 

You will therefore proceed to Bismarck without delay, accompanied 
bv Lieut. Col. F. D. Grant, of my staff, where the steamer Josephine 
will be in readiness for vou; and after landing such freight as she may 
carry for Forts Stevenson and Buford at these respective points, you will 
take on board from the garrison at Fort Buford a sufticient escort for 
the accomplishment of the object in view. I want a carehil examination 
made of the south bank of the Yellowstone and the mouths and imme- 
diate valleys of the rivers coming in from the Black Uills, and especially 
those of Tongue Kiver, Kosebud, and Big Horn, and it you go higher up 
the Yellowstone, the Big Kosebud, giving an account of the timber, soil, 
and geological formation, also the depth of the water m a geneml way, 
and the character of any rapids passed over above the mouth ot 1 owder 
Kiver Make your examination as complete as possible, without any 
unnecessary detention of the boat, and return from any point when, m 
your best judgment, there is not sufficient water, or any other obstacles 
to impede vour progress. 

It may be necessary, at some time in the immediate future, to occupy 
by a military force the country in and about the mouths ot iongue 
Kiver and the Big Horn. You will, therefore, make especial examination 
of these points with this view. 

1 decline to authorize you to allow any person whomsoever to accom- 
pany you except Lieutenant-Colonel Grant, who is a part ot your expc- 
ditioiK and whom vou may put on special or general duty with yoa 
and the officers accompanying the troops forming your escort. 

The cai)tain, officers, and pilots of the boat, and .Mr. Conlson, or any 
a'^ent of his who is undoubtedly an employe or a member ot the trans- 
portation company, and the necessary otticers of the boat, will, ot course, 

'^On your' return you will be required to make an exact report of your 
trip, and you will telegraph my headquarters on your departure Iroia 
Bismarck, and as soon as you return there. 

^«^"'^' ''''^^'^ P. H. SHERIDAN, 



Lieutenant- GvneraJ, 



Lieut. Col. J. W. Forsyth, 

Military Secretary. 









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REPORT OF LIEUT. COL. J. W. FORSYTH. 



Headquarters Military Division of the Missouri, 

Chicago, III., June 22, 1875 

General : I have the hoiior to submit the following? report of an 
expedition made up the Yellowstone Kiver, in pursuance of jour letter 
of instructions, dated ]May 19, 1875, and Special Orders Ko. 51, dated 
Headquarters ^lilitary Division of the Missouri, May 19, 1875. 

The steamboat selected for the expedition was the Josephine, Capt. 
Grant Marsh, commanding. She is one of the best boats engaged in 
the Upper Missouri trade, being ISO feet in length, 31 feet in breadth, 
■with a depth of hold of 4 feet, an<l is registered at 300 tons burden. 
She had no freight on board, and was manned by twelve officers and 
thirty -one men. 

Before leaving Fort Buford I took on board of the Josephine three 
companies of the Sixth United States Infantry, viz: Comi)any E, Capt. 
Thomas Britton, Second Lieut. 11. I. Jacobs, and thirty enlisted men ; 
Company G, First Lieut. W. H. Cornell, Second Lieut. Thomas G. Town- 
send, and thirty enlisted men; Company H, Second Lieut. K. E. Thomp- 
son, Second Lieut. C. L. Gurley, and forty enlisted men. 

This gave me, with Acting Asst. Surg. J. A. McKinney, a total of 
seven officers and one hundred eidisted men. I also had four mounted 
scouts and one Gatling gun, caliber one inch, supplied with 10,000 
rounds of ammunition, and the companies were furnished with 350 
rounds of ammunition per man. The command was supplied with one 
month's subsistence : and the steamer with this escort and supplies 
drew twenty inches of water. 

In order that we might make an early start on the following morning, 
I pushed ofi" from Fort Buford and headed for the mouth of the Yellow- 
stone liiver, wljich is just above the post, at six o'clock ]). ui., on Wed- 
nesday, the 2Gth day of May. Moving up the Missouri to enter the 
mouth of the Yellowstone, you travel around the arc of a bend w hich 
the river makes to the north, pass by the Missouri Kiver, which comes 
in from the north, and find yourself stemming the current of the Yellow- 
stone, which rushes into the main stream with such force that it cuts ofi" 
the ^Missouri and seems to claim the entire right of way, and so im- 
presses you with its might and usurped i)ower, that you are naturally 
led to believe that it is in reality the parent stream and the ^lissouri 
one of its tributaries. 

We steamed up the Yellowstone until 8 o'clock p. m., and then tie<l 
up for the night on the north bank of the river, opposite Forsyth's Bluff, 
said to be twelve miles from Fort IJuford. 

As soon as the boat made a landing, we i)osted.a strong guard on the 
shore, well out some 300 yards from the steamer, and this course was 
l>ursued at every landing that we made, either for wooding up or for 
night camps, during thc! entire expedition. 

We left camp op])osite Forsyth's lilulf at 1 a. m., Thursday, ]May 27, 
and at 9i o'clock p. m. on the third day, Saturday, May 29, we went 



into camp teu inik'S al>ove the mouth of Powder River. The avera<;e 
\vi»Ith of the Yellowstone passed over by us up to this point was about 
300 yards, and the water was at least li feet i>elow the usual hi<;h-water 
mark. The banks and bottom cf the river, from its mouth to Stanley's 
Shoals, forty-two miles from Fort liiiford, arc about the same as that of 
the ^Missouri, but at these shoals the l)ed and bank ehango to pjrav«'l ; 
and the Yellowstone, throughout its lenj^th passetl over by us, is bounded 
by a gravel bed an<l walls. We had no tiouble in makinpf our way up 
to this camp by the use of our steani-])ower alone; found no snags or 
rocks to interfere with our progress. The water was muddy, but not so 
tliick and bad as tlie ^Missouri. Current about four miles an hour, 
excei)t on the rajjids, where it was, of course, much greater. The main 
AVolf JJapids, which aie regarded as about the most <lilliciilt ones in the 
lower river, are l'"»0 feet long. We steamed back and forth across them 
and examined tliem with great care, taking soundings. The least depth 
of water near the channel was 8 feet, and we estimated the current to 
be about six miles an hour. The south bank, near Wolf JJapids, has a 
perjiendicular face on the river 50 feet in height, with horizontal veins 
of coal o iect and less in thickness running lhi(»ugh it. The ground on 
the north bank drops down into a low prairie point. 

Powder JJiver at its mouth is 125 yards wide, current sluggish, and 
the w ater of a dark-reddish color. Its east bank is bounded by a rough 
line of hills of a bad land character and appearance. On the west bank 
there is a small ]»atch of i)rairie near its mouth. Very little open coun- 
try on the south bank of the Y'ellowstone ; on the north bank high 
l)raiiie, w hich is (piite extensive, varying in width, and is linally closed 
in on the river by a range of hills ^.lO feet high, which I'oiiii the north 
bank of the river about two miles from our cam[), and which from their 
apjx'arance were called IhriVs liavhhonc Unites. They i)ushe«l down on 
to the Yellowstone in our front, and seemed to be barrieis to our further 
])iogiess to the west. Small anumnt of cottonwood and willow on the 
Powder Jiiver ; very little growing limber on the Y'ellowstone. The 
]>rairie above referred to is covered w ith sage, some bunch-grass, and 
juickly pear. About five miles above Powder Ifiver, a small creek 
^\inds its way through it, and is known as Custer's Creek. Near this 
stream (.ien«'ral Staidey camped with his command in IST.i. 

Snndny May 30, lS7."i. — We cami)ed last night at a point on tlie north 
bank of the river, whi<-h we called Eagle Point, and the small island 
just west of it was called Eagle Island. 

Left camj) today at ^..U) a. m. The river fell in six hours last night 
2 inches. Passed a small stream which puts into the river from the 
south a little above the ])evirs Backbone. It heads in the hills so?no 
distance to the south of us, near a butte which we called Cap Putte, 
and the stream was called (hiu Creek. Its valley is small, and lilh'd 
with growing pine. The l)anl<s of the Yellowstone near (lun Creek are 
much lower than at any other point passed, so fai-, on the river. On the 
south bank we had a prairie, covered with prickly peai', sage-brush, and 
some bunch-grass. Jlills sonu' distance oil', broken ami rough. North 
bank closed in by range of unin\iting hills, which were called North 
Side Puttes. Curient running from (bur an«l a half to five miles an 
hour. At 7 a. m. we stopped at an ishunl calleil Lasure's Island ami 
wooded. Very little growing timber on the Yellow.itone from Powder 
I{ivcr up to this point, but a good deal of drift-wood scattered along 
the shore. Left Lasure's Islan<l at 11 a. m., jmt off scouts just before 
leaving, and they i»ushed on ahead of us on the north bank. On the 
north side the hills, which are about l.")0 feet in height, close into the 




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river just after leaving this island, mid on tlio south side we i>iiss.Hl a 
hifih bank of chiv with coal nndeilyiiig it. Joe's Island and .loe's 
Kapids and a small creek called Mull" Creek passed about two miles 
beyond Lasure's Island, llills on the south close in to the river, with 
plateaus on top and cedar orowiufj on them. Trairie extending along 
the bank of tlie river on the north side of the character already 
described, about tive miles deep. Twenty-four miles from mouth of 
Powder Eiver we struck the main lUittalo iiapids, which are half a mile 
in length, with a current which amounts to about six miles an hour. 
Passed back and forth through the ra])i<ls, and found that the lowest 
depth of water was 7 feet in the channel. Had no trouble in steaming 
over them, although we had a heavy head-Mind as well as the current 
to contend against. 

In our progress up the river for the next two or three miles the sur- 
face of the water was disturbed by rii)ples, indicating a broken or rocky 
condition in the bed of the channel, which interfered with the peaceful 
flow of the water, but did not amount to anything like an impediment 
to the easy and successful navigation of the stream. "We i)assed the 
mouth of Sunday Creek, which falls into the river from the north, only 
presenting to the eye a small valley about six miles in length ; and then 
in succession several large and tinely timbered islands, reaching the 
mouth of Tongue Piver, which is eleven miles from Sunday Creek and 
thirty-eight from Powder Piver, where we camped for the night. From 
the h'ead of Buffalo Papids, on the south bank, a high range of sharply 
detined hills, the most prominent butte being called Marsh's Putte, run 
diagonally across from the Yellowstone to the valley of the Tongue 
Piver. Between this range, which is from 200 to 300 feet high, with 
very little timber or verdure visible, and the two rivers, is a bottom, 
covered with sage, prickly pear, and bunch-grass. Along the Yellow- 
stone the Cottonwood timber increases at each step of the route till you 
reach the rich timbered bottom of the immediate valley of the Tongue 
Piver. On the west side of this last-named river the cottonwood fringes 
the Yellowstone, and behind it, running back to the hills, we found a 
bottom tive miles long and two or more miles deep, cover.Hl as the o:io 
just described on the east bank. 

Monday, May 31, 1875. — Left camp at the moutn of Tongue la^er at 
3.45 a. m., and reached the mouth of the Big Horn Piver, which is one 
hundred and sixty-five miles from Powder Piver, and one hundred and 
twenty-seven miles from Tongue Piver, at 8.15 a. i£i., Wednesday, June 2. 

We found the general character of the country on the north bank as 
described by General Stanley in his report. The only streams that wo 
discovered flowing into the Yellowstone on the south bank, between 
Tongue Pivcr and the Big Horn, were Emmel's Creek and a creek which 
I called Alkali Creek. Tlie former is twenty-four and a half miles, and 
the latter one hundred an<l three miles from Tongue Piver. 

The (piantity and <iuality of growing timber, pine and cottonwood, 
increased very rapidly as we made our progress to the west. The river 
was tilled with islands, all well covered with a heavy growth of cotton- 
wood, and the surface of the ground carpeted with line bunch-grass, 
wild rye, and sage. The hills that open and shut off the valley are as 
a general thing not so high as those in the lower part of the river, and 
are rounded otl", covered with sage and bunch-grass, and with every in- 
dication of a plateau country behind them whicii would give good graz- 
ing. Where the hills break abruptly on the river, they give sandstone 
bluffs instead of the clay of the lower country. The major part of the 
prairie-bottoms are on the north side. Tlie only large one between the 



8 

l)oints named on the south bank runs up to within eleven miles of the 
r.ig Horn, and has a frontage on the river of about twenty-one miles, 
varying in width from half a mile to four miles. These prairie-bottoms 
are formed in two benches, the lower one from 3 to 4 feet above the 
water, well timbered, but by the drift-wood seen must be subject at 
times to an overflow; the otiier, or second bench, is some 4 feet higher 
than the fiist, and gradually slopes l)ack to the hills. 

After making an examination of the I>ig Iforn we pushed on uptlie Yel- 
lowstone Itiver, leaving the mouth of the former at 2.o() p. m.. Wednes- 
day, June!', and continual to work our way onward until Monday, June 
7. Above the Big Horn the water of the Yellowstone was cU'ar; anil 
although we left this large tributary, which is laO yards wide and 
throws into the Yellowstone an immense volume of water behind us, 
still the channel and (piantity of water and bed of the stream gave no 
signs, to be discovered by our eyes, of any diminution in its capacity, 
power, or strength. The width of the river averaged about 300 yards, 
and at many places, from main shore to n)ain shore, it was fully 1,000 
yards. The current of the stream increased by <legrees as we got far- 
ther advanced toward its head, but our trouble did not begin until 9.25 
a. m.on the 3d of June, at a place on the river called "The Narrows," 
twenty-seven miles above the Big Horn. At this point the bluffs on 
the south bank terminate, and the blurts on the north side closing in, 
thus confining the river in a narrow and d»*ej) channel which is only 
S5 yards wide. The current was so swift near this i)oint that we only 
made one sixth of a mile an hour, and here the boat, although under a 
lull head of steam, ai)i)eared to stand still. It was estimated that the 
water was running against us at this place at the rate of eight or nine 
miles ati hour, which was n)uch more rapid than at any other \nm\t here- 
tofore reached on the trip. AYe had to use our spars and lines today 
for the first time, and succeeded in reaching and tying up for tin^ night 
at Pomi>ey's Pillar, at 5.30 p. m., Juno 3, 1875, thirty-nine miles from 
the Big Horn. 

Tut'sildji, June 4, 1875. — We started from our camp at Pompey's Pil- 
lar at 3.45 a. m., and continued to fight our way forward up this mighty 
and swift-running stream. At tinu's we thought that at last we liad 
reache(l a]>uint where we could put away our s])ars, stop our nigger-engine, 
and coil up our ropes, but all these dreams and hopes were blighted, for 
the current increased in rapidity, the riverbed continued to be broken 
and divided by islantls, and after closing the day, JuneO, with our l)oat 
fastened up for the night above Hell Roaring Rapids, and a line stretched 
to help us forward at early morning, it did not much sui prise me to 
find that the developments of the next morning warranted us in <lecid- 
ing to retrace our steps. Upon a careful examination of the river, on 
the morning of the 7th of June, above us for some, miles, it was ascer- 
tained that, though the volume of water was unchanged, it was so cut 
up into various chutes and <-hannels, by islands, an»l the riverbed was 
HO wide, with a most powerful current hurling it forward to its mouth, 
that any faither i)rogress made up the stieam could otdy be accom- 
jilished by sparring and warping, ami without any ade(|uate reward for 
the labor expendetl. tS(i that at L'.IO j). m., June 7, w«' turned the prow 
of our boat down the river, having reached a point which we estimated 
to be two hundred anil lifly miles above the mouth of Powder River. 

1 can say of the country generally that the north bank is almost co'.i- 
tinuous blurts and hills iiom the l'>ig Horn Rivei- t(» the large i)rairie 
opposite tlu' month of Clark's I'ork, and that on the south bank you 
lia\i' !lii' pr.iii iebot toMi coinplemenlarv thereto. Pompey's PilLir pi'airie 



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is fully twenty miles loiifjf, and the ))rairie opposite (Clark's Fork extends 
to tlie west up to, it' not beyond, liid<j:ei 's Canon. These prairies seemed to 
im[)rove somewhat as we went west, thouj;h the growth was about the 
same as upon those already described. Growing- timber alouff the rivers 
was not so abundant beyoiul Tompey's Pillar as up to that point, though 
there is an inexhaustible su])ply in the country to meet all the demands 
that a settlement of this valley would recpiiri'. 

In reg:ard to the rivers risinjj south of the Yellowstone and emptyinsf 
into it, I shall first mention Tongue IMver. The water of this river is 
of a reddish tinge. It is 150 feet wide at its mouth, and holds to this 
width for some two miles or more from the nuiin river. It is (luito 
crooked, with a depth of water at mouth of 7 feet. 

The main valley of the Yellowstone is about two miles wide where it 
is joined by the above stream, and is a prairie-bottom with some good 
grazing. Both streams arc well timbered with cottonwood, and where 
the Tongue Kiver l»reaks through the hills its valley is about two miles 
wide. The hills on the east bank are .{.jO feet high, and the country 
beyond is very broken. Those on the north near the main valley are 
clear cut, conical in shai)e, covered with sage-brush and bunch-grass, 
and are not over 150 feet high, but increase as you go up the valley. 

ROSEBUD RIVER. 

I found the pLice where this river was reported as emptying into the 
Yellowstone, but the bed of the stream which I examined was a dry one, 
with no signs of water. The valley where it joins the Yellowstone is not 
over a mile long, all told, and no signs of anj^ camps or occupation by 
Indians ; very little timber and no valley to it except the short one from 
liills of Y^ellowstone to the main river. In fact, the result of my exami- 
nation, both going up and coming down the Yellowstone, leads me to 
believe that the Rosebud River does not empty into the Yellowstone 
direct, but that its waters are conveyed to it through the Tongue Kiver; 
that is, I think that it empties into the Tongue Kiver and not into the 
Y'ellowstone. 

EmmeVs Crecic is twenty-four and a half miles above Tongue Kiver, 
about 25 or 30 feet wide, and winds its way through a small i)rairie 
from the hills to the parent stream; has some cottonwood and ash 
growing on its banks. Near its mouth we found four piles of stone, 
which mark the point where Meldrum's trading-post once stood. Signs 
of old Indian camps near this stream. 

AlKali Creek linds its way down to the Yellowstone through a large 
prairie below the mouth of the Big Horn River, ami at a distance from 
Tongue River estimated to be one hundred and three miles. It has a 
fringe ut" cotton wood-trees on its banks, is about fifteen or twenty feet 
wile, water alkali, and of a reddisli tinge. Signs of Indian camps near 
its mouth in the main valley. 

THE BIG HORN RIVER. 

We steamed up this river for a distance of twelve miles, found it <]uito 
croolced, with a luirrow valley, ami were obliged to return on account of 
the water becoming distributed over so wule a space that the main chan- 
nel did not afford suflieient depth of water for us to continue our course. 
Tlu^ current of the Big Horn was about as strong as that of the Yellow- 
stone, water muddy, and at the mouth it was about 150 yards wide. 
Where it joins the Yellowstone the^ points of laud on each side are small 



10 

prairies, with fjood pfrass. On the east l>aiik the bluffs run el.se to the 
river and are si)arsely timbered. On the west bank the valley is mostly 
tilled witli <M)ttonw()()d,an<l the hills are abont 150 leet hifih, with plateaus 
on their top. Near the point where we turned back, there was a sniall 
stretch of prairie abont a mile wide and a mile and a half loiifj. The 
north bank of tiie Yellowstone opposite the mouth of the river is a sand- 
stone blnft" 150 feet high, with rolling plateau on top, covered with sago 
and some bunch-grass. 

pryor's riyer. 

Where this stream empties into tlie Y<'llowstone sixty-two miles above 
the Big Horn, it is a small creek 25 feet wide, winding through the western 
part of the prairie which extends from Pompey's IMllar to it; very little 
timber on it. It is reported to have a tine country near its head waters. 

We entered the mouth of the Yellowstone liiver at OA p. m., Wednes- 
day, May 127th, and returne<l to Fort Buford on Thursday, June 10. 
Our running-time from Fort Bulbrd to the mouth of the Big Horn, 
under steam alone, was 88 hours and 40 minutes. From the time that 
we arrived at the mouth of Powder Biver, Sunday, Maj^ 30, up 
to the 7th day of dune, the river fell from half an inch to one and a 
half inches each night, an<l the water in the channel was over two feet 
below the ordinary high-water mark. The Yellowstone Kiver, from the 
highest ])oint reached by us to the month of Powder Kiver, sweeps 
through the country in long and niajestic stret(!hes, with a current of at 
least four miles an hour. Its bosom is studded with islands by hun- 
dreds, some of which are tliree or more miles in length, and covered 
with Cottonwood groves; and many of them are so handsome that they 
almost make the voyager believe that they are the well-kept ground* 
pertaining to some Knglish country-house. 1 never saw so fine a growth 
of Cottonwood in my life as on the Y'ellowstone twenty-five miles above 
Tongue liiver. These trees will run from 3 to 5 feet, and some 
are G feet in tliameter. The supply of cottonwood and pine which ex- 
ists throughout the Upper Yellowstone country is ample to meet all the 
rcfiuirements of any settlement of the valley ; and tiio indications are 
that large beds of coal can b«' found and worked in the neighborhood of 
Powder Kiver. Sandstone blutfs crop out on the Yellowstone above 
Tongue Kiver, and some limestone was passed above Pompey's Pillar. 

The mouth of the Big Horn may be regarded as the head of naviga- 
tion on the YVllowstone Kiver, and for tliree months of the year this 
river presents less obstacles to its navigation than the Upper Missouri, 
and, indeed, many other rivers in this and other countries. The chan- 
nel is unchanging, for it passes over a gravel bed from its hea<l to its 
mouth, and there are no snags. When this is contrasted with the shift- 
ing and unreliable water of the Upper Missouri, it ought to make the 
rates of insurance less on the Y'ellowstone Kiver than on the Upper 
Missouri. 

GAME. 

We found the greatest abandance of g.nna along our entire route — 
anteIoi>e, bear, black-tail deer, elk, mountain slieej) ; also herds of buf- 
falo between Tonjiue l{iv<'r and the Big Horn as we went up, but before 
we reMiiM«'d they had all crossetl the ri\er and goiu' iKUtli. 

INDIANS. 

On the north bank of the Yellowstone Kiver, about eight miles above 
the mouth of Pryor's Kiver, we ran on to a camp of Mountain Crow. 



11 



Ttulim^ on their wav down to the BifT Poreni.ii.e to hmit '[''^^ ••;"';}^ 
In iS (^^^^^ lo«lj;"es of Mountain Crows, unch-r Iron I'.nll, lilack l<.,o(, 
Crazv e ifLong Hors., and I'.ear Wolf; 50 lod^a-s of -No/ l^'--^;;;;: 
^Pt Lodn- CHass; L>0 U..l-es Kiver Crows, luu er Ihick Bull an 1 
i l..Tt if- 10 lol.-es of Gros Ventres of tlie I'rairie, under Brass 
B^et 1 iod'eof 1 una niakinj, in all 3.>L lodges They had 
heir a nil es w hh then, and h.r^e herds of horses. I was to d that^^^^^^^^^^ 
India had above 15,000 rounds of earhine ^^''^!''>>'';^'^;';',;V;\f . '7,^2\ 
SI lied with bv the Indian Bureau, and they boasted that t thc^ to i I 
onlv ^e a cl'^^ce at Sitting Bull and his people they ^-^_^^^^^^^ 
one of them to tell the tale of their meeting. They said that the Bg 
?Torn couiUrrbelong^ to them and they intended to have it, it they 
^ad to kill ail the SiouK Nation. Most of these Indians were ar.ned 
with Sharp's carbines. , ,.,. 

Xo S ouK were seen at any time during the expedition. 

Mea ^ed while in the Crow camp that their agency had been trans- 
fen-ed tVo?u a.; vicinity of Fort Ellis to the wagon-road crossing ot the 

^'i^m^iug table of distances was estimated and compiled on our 
way up, and verified on our way down the river : 



DISTA^'CES. 



— <-!X »^i;»:t,.^s::r^i;'s,:^"S;.:- ^ "" '"" 




Mouth of Powder River to Bear Rapids 

1 )evirs Backbone 

Main Buffalo Rapids 

Sunday Creek 

Reynold's Island 

Tongue River - - - • - - - ' 

General Custer's first figbt, (scene of). 

Roncie Island 

Little roreniiine 

Knimel's Creek 

Big Porcupine 

Avenue Island, (Bessie Butte) 

Bear Island 

Palisades 

Alkali Creek --- 

Scene of General Custer s tiglit - - 

Big Horn River 

Cape Horn 

TLie Narrows 

Pompey's Pillar 

Fryer's Creek 

Highest Point 



ililea. 
.5 
7 
12 
3 
2 

I 9 
11 
14 

I 6 
I 3i 
I 5* 
I 3 

1 "^ 

I 27 

I 31 

22 

2 

10 

17 

12 

23 

23 



Miles. 
5 
12 
24 
27 
29 
38 
49 
63 
69 
72^ 
78 
el 
H3 
110 
141 
163 
165 
175 
192 
204 
227 
250 



Gen George A. Forsvth, in his report of May, 1873, makes tlie dis- 
""'am uadcr many obligations to Lieut. Ricbaid E. Thompson, Si^tk 



12 

Infantry, for Lis assistance during the expedition, and for tliemap which 
I herewith forward. The pen sketches of the country transmitted were 
made by Lieut. T. G. Townsend, Sixtli Infantry, and presented to me 
for tile witli tliis report; and the book of pencil-views was made by Cor- 
poral Tlioma, JSixtli Inlantry. 

Very respectfully, your obedient servant, 

James W. Fobsyth, 
Lieutenant-Colonel and Military Secretary. 
Lieut. Geu. P. IL SnERiDAN, 

Commnndinff Military Division of the Missouri, 



REPORT OF LIEUT. COL. F. D. GRANT. 



Headquarters Military Division of the Missouri, 

Chicago, 111., June 23, 1875. 

General : I bavo the honor to submit tlie following report of my ob- 
servations on my recent trii) up the YeHowstone Itiver, in obedience to 
Special Orders No. 54, dated lleadqnarters MiUtary Division of the 
Missouri, Chicago, 111., :\Iay 10, 1875. 

I left Chicago and went to Saint Paul; thence, via the Northern Pacitic 
Railroad, to Bismarck, Dakota Territory, where the steamer Josephine 
was waiting for us. We took this steamer, which was to take us up the 
Yellowstone and ]\Iissouri Kivers, stopping at Forts Stevenson and 
Buford. At these two points we took on our escort. At Fort Steven- 
son we took one company of forty men and one Gatling gun ; at Fort 
Buford, sixty men. We entered the month of the Y'ellowstone on the 
evening of May 20, and ran up the river until 8.20 p. m., when we 
stopped to cut wood for the next day's run. As no white person lives 
on the Yellowstone Iviver, we had to cut all the wood used on this expe- 
dition. 

Our first day's run took us up the river to Forsyth's Buttes, about 
twelve miles. We proceeded up the river until the afternoon of June 
7, when we found the river so cut up with islands, and all the chutes 
having rapids, that it was practically the head of navigation, and de- 
cided to return, as the object of the exi)edition had been accom])lished. 

The distance of the highest point reached from the mouth of Powder 
Eiver we estimated as two hundred and forty-eight miles. The dis- 
tance from the mouth of the Powder lliver to the mouth of the Yellow- 
stone had been estimated by the expedition of 187,'} as two hundred 
and thirtj-five miles, making a total distance of four hundred and 
eighty-three miles. 

In writing this report, I think I shall treat each subject in succession, 
rather than taking them as we passed up the river, as there was very 
little variation from day to day. 

the country. 

The country we passed through was of a cretaceous formation, (the 
latest formations of the Mesozoic times, going uj) through Cenozoic time 
and the age of man, for the country is being severely washed by the 
heavy rains of the present day ;) the valley, of course, being, like the 
valleys of all rivers, modified drift. The islands, of which there are a 
great many, diller from those of the Missouri in being com[)aratively 
permanent. 

The Yellowstone Valley presents many beautiful landscapes. It is 
particularly grand when seen from tlie mouth of Powder Uiver ; but 
from the mouth of this river down the soil is an ashy clay, on which 
little or nothing will grow. Adjoining the river, however, are several 
extensive flats, which arc comparatively fertile. There is a sort of coal 
(lignite) in all the banks below Powder Kiver, but very little stone of 



14 

any sort, except sandstone of the very poorest quality. The coal found 
here will make a very hot fire, but contains so much sulphur that I doubt 
that it could ever be used for anythin<j except to be burnt in an open 
grate to keep a room warm. 

In IST.'i, when 1 was out in this country, I found fossils of several 
kinds, shells, leaves of fern, and the backbone of some sort of animal ; I 
do not know what. 

The clay of this country must contain considerable lime, for wherever 
these beds of coal have been burnt out, there is always just above where 
the coal was, a bed of gypsum, (sulphate of lime,) and above this red 
banks. All the ravines in these hills have cedar in small quantity, 
which could be used by actual settlers for doors, window-sills, «S:c., but 
not enough to send to a market, even if there was one nearer than it is 
likely there will ever be to this part of the river. 

From Powder Kiver up, sandstone makes it appearance in larger 
quantities, and the hills are capped with gravel mixed with earth 8 
to 10 feet thick, and on these biuft's or hills there is a thin growth of 
grass and pine trees until you get up to the Big Horn Kiver. 

From here up the hills are much higher, the sandstone much harder 
and in thicker strata. The growth of pine is much larger and more of 
them, rhnlging from the game, (butlalo,) there must be twenty or thirty 
miles back from the river a park country, on the south side of the river, 
for the buttalo were coming from that direction, crossing the river and 
going north. 

Also we could see high snow-capi)ed mountains in the distance, and 
I have always found that the foot-hills of a mountain-range are good 
lands. 

I have heard hunters who have been through this country say that 
colors of gold have been found in the ditlerent streams coming out of 
these mountains, and I know that the gold-mines in Montana are in the 
same range. I also know that the Yellowstone liiver and its various 
tributaries coming from these mountains have a gravelly bottom of 
igneous and metanuirphic rocks, jtorpliyry, granite, and (juart/; so I see 
no reason that there sliould not be gold, even in considerable quantities, 
in these mountains. 

TUE YELLOWSTONE RIVER. 

This river has its source in the Yellowstone Lake, (which is in the 
northwestern corner of Wyoming Territory.) and takes a course a little 
west of north, until it unites its waters with those of Shield's Kiver. 
At this point it turns and runs in a general direction a little north of 
east, until the Powder Kiver empties into it, when it changes again 
and takes an almost due northeastern course, emptying int<» the Mis- 
souri liiver a few miles above Fort lUiford. 

Jn low water this stream is navigable with ease as far up as P(un- 
pey's I'illar, (a sandstone blull situated on the south side, and cut oil 
i'.om a range of sandstones hills on the north by the action of water,) 
about thirty mih's al)ove tiie moutli of the JJig Horn Kiver, there Iteing 
but one jtlace from its mouth to this i)oint that would have to b»' lixed 
to improv»s its navigation. A couple of bowlders would havt; to bo 
removeil from near tiie mouth of the Powder Kiver. These bowld«'rs 
could be reniove«l by thi-e<' or four nu'U in a few hours by drilling lM)les 
an<l blowing them up. The oidy <tther obsta(;les in the way are the dif- 
ferent rapids. Most of these a steamboat can run over without any 
trouble. iSome! are; almost too rai>id, and those t-an be cordelled without 
any trouble. To cordelle is to tie a long roi)e around a tree or stump on 



15 

shore, ami the other eiul \vr;ii>pe(l arouml the capstan of the boat, which 
is turned by stean), and thus the boat is pulled along. 

There are large ([uantities of dry wood along the river that has been 
cut by the beaver. This makes it very easy for steamboats for fuel 
should they ever begin to navigate this river. 



DISTANCES. 



The following are the names of the places and distances on the Yel- 
lowstone. I give the names of only those above the mouth of Powder 
Eiver, as those below that point have already been given in a report of 
Geu. G. A. Forsyth, in 1873. 



Names. 



Rfinavks. 



Mouth of Yellowstone 

Powder River 

Bear Rapids 

Devil's Racklume 

Buffalo Rapids 

Sunday Creek 

Reynold's Islaud 

Tongue River 

Sceneof Custer's first figlit, 1873 

Poncie Island _. 

Little Porcupine River 

P'lnniel's Creek 

Bis; I'orcupiuo 

Avenue Island 

Bear Island • 

I'alisades 

Alkali Creek 

Seene of Custer's second fight.. 
Big Horn River 

Cape Horn 1 

Tin; Narrows j 

Poinpey's Pillar j 

Li tile (Irant Rapids 

I'rvor's Creek 

B.'lleButtes ; 

Uighest point reached i 



Very swift current 

Left bank, opposite Gun Creek 

As formidable as any in the river 

Left bank 

Right bank 

Right bank, good site for post 

Left bank 

Right \)ank 

Left bank 

Right bank, Meldrum's trading post. 
Right bank, good site for post 



Of considerable size ; bear seen on it. . 
A range of sandstone blutl's, left bank. 
Right bank 



Left bank; fouixht in 1873 | 

Volume of water about one-third of Yellow- , 

stone ' 

A very sharp bend of tlie river 

About 75 or 80 yards wide 

About 150 feet high, right bank 

Very strong current 

Rigiit bank 

Right bank, Hell Gate Rapids here 



235 
5 
7 
12 
3 
2 
8 
11 
14 
6 
3§ 

^ 

2 

27 

31 

22 

2 
10 
17 
12 
15 

8 
10 
12 



o o 

c « ?; 
115 





5 

12 

24 

27 

29 

37 

48 

62 

68 

7IJ 

77 

80 

82 

.109 

140 

162 

164 
174 
191 
203 
218 
22tj 
236 
248 



o is 

a.2 



235 

240 

247 

259 

262 

264 

272 

283 

2!i7 

303 

306} 

312 

315 

317 

344 

375 

397 

399 
409 
426 
438 
453 
461 
471 
483 



If a military post is to be established on the Yellowstone, I would re- 
spectfully recommend the mouth of Tongue River as the point to locate 
it. Tongue Kiver runs through the very heart of the country inhabited 
by hostile Indians, and is, therefore, in my opinion, the best place for a 
post. 

The water of the Yellowstone is deeper than that of the Missouri 
above the mouth of the Yellowstone, and could be navigated more 
months in the year than the ^Missouri can be. The distance from its 
mouth to the he;id of navigation is about one-half the distance from the 
mouth of the Yellowstone to Fort Benton, and the distance from Poni- 
pey's Pillar to the settled part of Montana is about the same distance as 
it is from l'\)rt P>t'nton, and 1 believe a good wagon-road all the way 
could !)(' had by following the Yellowstone up to Crow agency, and then 
going across to the Gallatin Valley. 



THE ISLANDS. 



The islands of this river, like those of the ^Missouri, are all modified 
<lrift, linely timbcicd with cottonwood, box-elder, and near tlu' mouth 



16 

of tbe river some ash. These islands arc, however, more permanent 
than any in the Missouri, inasmuch as their foundations are gravel, and 
do not wash away. Some of tliem arc very large, and there are a ;,Meat 
many of them. 

Fisn. 

The fish of this river are catfish, cau^'ht near the mouth; shiners, 
catfish, and jack-salmon between Powder Kiver and the Big Horn. 
Above tbe mouth of the Big llorn we caught trout, catfish, and shi- 
ners. 

GAME. 

^ The game found on this trip was bult'alo, (between tlu' Powder and liig 
Horn Kivers,) elk in great number on the islands, beaver on all the 
banks, antelope on the plains, big-horn or mountain sheep in the 
blufls, wild geese and ducks, which breed here in great numbers. 
We saw a few bears and a few wolves. 

INDIANS. 

This is tbe hunting-ground of the hostile Sioux, who roam at 
large between the Powder River and the Big Horn, on tbe south 
side of the river, and between the Yellowstone and the Mussel- 
shell on the north. Tlie Crow Indians live west of the Big Horn River. 

THE RESOURCES OF THE COUNTRY. 

The Yellowstone valley can all or nearly all be cultivated, as the soil 
is rich. The islands, nuiny of which are very large, could also be culti- 
vated. There is an abundance of coal and pine wood that couhl be 
taken out with profit. The water is fine, being melted snow, and in the 
valley there grow large quantities of wild plums, cherries, butt'alo-ber- 
ries, gooseberries, currants, and wild strawberries. 

I am, general, very respectfully, your obedient servant, 

¥. D. Grant, 
Lieutenant-Colonel and Aidede-C(ivq). 
Lieut, (ien. P. H. SiiERmAN, 

(Jommund'uuj Military Division of the Missouri. 



17 

INDORSEMENTS ON REPORT. 
[First Indorsement.] 

Hk.\dquartkks Mimtaky Division Missouri, 

Chicago, Junv 'M, 187.'j. 
Respectfully forwaided to the Headquarters of the Army. 

P. H. Shkkidan, 
Lieutenant-General Commanding. 



[Second Indorsement.] 

Hkadquartkks of the Ar.my, 

Saint Louis, July 7, 1875. 
Respectfully forwarded to the Secretary of War. 

\V. T. SlIKR.MAN, 

General. 



I Third Indor.sonient.] 

War Department, Adjutant-General's Office, 

Washington, .Juhf 9, 1875. 

Respectfully submitted to the Secretary of War. 

Thomas M. Vincent, 

Assistant Jdjutant-Uimeral. 



Respectfully referred to the Chief of Eugiueers. 

The Secretary of War directs that this report be published, under the supervision of 
the Chief of Eugiueers, at the Government Printing-Office. 
By order of tlie Secretary of War. 

H. T. Crosby, 

Chief Clerk. 
War Department, 

SeptemJxr l.'S, 1875. 

2 Y 



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